PABLO MONSIVAIS AND MARY EMBLETON, GUEST COLUMNISTS

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, November 13, 2006

Think "greenhouse gas" and we envision automobile exhaust, smokestacks and record heat waves. Driving less and being more energy efficient is on the minds of many concerned about climate change. Rarely mentioned among the factors contributing to global warming is the food at the end of our forks.

The "inconvenient truth" about how our food is produced, processed and distributed is that it requires massive quantities of fossil fuel-based inputs -- including petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides. The industrial farming model that dominates today releases 265 million metric tons of CO2 into the air and degrades the soil, impairing its ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Substantial energy and natural resources are used to process and package food before it's shipped -- burning more oil -- to get to restaurants and supermarkets.

With the average American meal traveling 1,500 miles before it reaches a plate, a University of Michigan study shows our food system consumes 7 calories of fuel for every calorie of energy we get from our food. Not all the food that's produced makes it to our plates. Almost 65,000 tons of food was thrown away by Seattle area businesses in 2004. Twenty percent to 30 percent of that food was perfectly good. The costs are much higher than a guilty conscience.

Although our food system contributes to climate change, global warming threatens agriculture. Triple-digit heat waves this year caused Oregon blueberry crops to dry up; livestock in California to drop dead. Fruit and nut crops could be damaged when blossoms open before insects arrive to pollinate them; fruit trees may produce weaker crops because of fewer cool nights. Irrigation water is drying up as mountain snows melt earlier, leaving fields dry by midsummer.

King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels are national leaders in addressing climate change. The mayor's Green Ribbon Committee worked with Seattle's Office of Sustainability and the Environment to produce the Climate Action Plan, targeting specific sectors for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Action Plan mentions the need to promote sustainable agriculture, but stops short of addressing the problems in our current system.

Changes in our food system could reduce significantly the impact on climate and also would give us a more secure food system that's beneficial to our health, the environment and our economy. Overhauling wasteful, inefficient ways requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach. Communities across the nation are establishing food policy councils to provide the expertise and collaboration necessary.

In our area, 15 volunteers from various parts of the food system formed an ad-hoc Seattle-King County Acting Food Policy Council this year. We hope the city and county will endorse and welcome a permanent council into the planning structure and include our food system in climate change policies.

Meanwhile, each of us can make a difference by buying food at farmers markets, direct from farms, or through community-supported agriculture programs, and patronizing restaurants that serve local, seasonal fare. Eating more locally and sustainably grown food is a delicious way to take a bite out of climate change.